The King Of NYC's Legendary Zabar's Deli, Saul Zabar, Dead At 97

Saul Zabar, co-owner of the famous gourmet market, Zabar's, has passed away in Manhattan at age 97. His daughter, Rachel Zabar, confirmed his passing on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, after he was hospitalized with a brain bleed (via The New York Times). He is survived by his wife, Carole Ann (née Kishner); children Aaron, Ann, and Rachel; four grandchildren; and brothers Stanley and Eli Zabar.

A person's life is much more than their job, but Zabar's life was intrinsically intertwined with the business that carried his last name. Until very recently, he was reported to still go into the store every single day. Zabar was born in Brooklyn to Ukrainian parents on June 4, 1928, so he was still a child when his family moved to Manhattan and opened a humble store on Broadway and West 80th Street in 1934. Originally only 22 feet wide, Zabar's became known in the neighborhood for its high-quality smoked fish. It also carried a wide variety of goods that catered to families in the area, particularly the Jewish community. 

Zabar's parents, Lillian and Louis Zabar, would've had to make sure to keep it stocked throughout the Great Depression and World War II. Eventually, they opened four more locations in the area. As the eldest brother, Saul took over after his father's death in 1950, dropping out of college and leaving behind his hopes of becoming a doctor.

Though already a staple of the community, it wasn't until the 1960s that Zabar's became renowned throughout Manhattan. At this time, Saul Zabar was considering selling the store, which was struggling with profitability. Saul and his brother, Stanley — who celebrated 93 years on August 19, 2025 — turned to Murray Klein, a former employee, for help. The trio contributed to a new era of New York City gastronomy.

Post-war prosperity allowed Americans to travel overseas and spend money on costly, imported ingredients. Under the leadership of the two Zabar brothers and Klein, Zabar's became one of the first stores in Manhattan to bring many previously hard-to-find international products to the city, like artisanal cheeses, specialty breads, and gnocchi. In securing ingredients that represented sophistication and worldliness, Zabar's cemented itself as a legacy institution of the Big Apple. It became a store where both neighborhood locals and the city's fashionable elite came to shop, whether it was for in-house roasted coffee, bagels, prepared foods, gourmet mustard, caviar and other fish eggs, or famous New York black and white cookies.

In its 90th year, Zabar's continues to sell around 4,000 pounds of fish and 8,000 pounds of coffee per week. It is now consolidated into a single market that takes up 20,000 square feet across several storefronts — Zabar's is still on Broadway and West 80th Street. Without Saul Zabar, this iconic store could have shuttered decades ago, and the New York City culinary scene might've looked very different from how it does today.